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Undescribable Perfection

That was an excellent one.

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

....but the film, not so much. "Yankee Doodle Dandy" is one of those rare instances where a superlative individual performance does not automatically translate into an exceptional movie.Plot in a nutshell: the show-business career of George M. Cohan, "the man who owned Broadway," is dramatized in this exorbitantly fictitious biography. James Cagney won his only Oscar for his portrayal of Cohan. Quick quiz...and be honest with yourself...who reading this had ever heard of Cohan's musical "Little Johnny Jones" before seeing this film? How about "George Washington Jr.?" Anyone? I'm guessing 'no.' I certainly had not. Let that sink in for a moment. Cohan is lauded in this film, and indeed portrayed as the man who owned Broadway...and maybe that was true 100 years ago. But fame can be fleeting, and that is very much the case here. Several reviewers revealingly stated they had never heard of Cohan before. Certainly the musicals he wrote (like the ones mentioned above) have not aged well and do not have staying power. Even many of his songs, so popular at the time, are extremely dated today. Think of "Over There," arguably Cohan's most famous tune. It's a song about Americans marching off to Europe to fight in World War I. What resonance does that have in today's world? Virtually none. To put it bluntly, Cohan is a dated figure who has been relegated to the dustbin of early 20th century history. He's just not a very compelling subject in this day and age. Likely no one under the age of 40, surely 30, has ever heard of him....and there's a good reason for that.Cohan was still alive in 1942 when this film was produced AND the United States had just been drawn into World War II...making "Yankee" relevant for the time. Indeed, they even recycled Cohan's WWI hit "Over There" for this film's finale, having soldiers pass by FDR's White House singing the tune as they marched off to fight another war. Good luck finding a modern-day soldier who knows the words to "Over There" today.As for Cagney, he puts his 'all' into this role and surely deserved winning for Best Actor. He sings, dances, and shuffles his way through the highs of Cohan's life (no lows are shown, like his first wife divorcing him for adultery). It's a virtuoso performance that certainly became one of the highlights of Cagney's career. Roger Ebert, in his 1998 review of "Yankee," wrote - 'the greatness of the film resides entirely in the Cagney performance.' He's right about that. Cagney was great. But that's also a telling comment which sort of alludes to what I mentioned earlier - 'the greatness of the film resides entirely....' In other words, CAGNEY was great, but the film isn't.Why isn't it great? Here's why. It tells the story of a boy, then man, who grows up in a show business family; first performing in vaudeville-type shows, then writing, producing and starring in them. Eventually he gets his big break on Broadway and pens a few famous patriotic songs, like "Over There" and "You're a Grand Old Flag." Then he gets old and retires to his farm. Then he comes out of retirement to do another show and is given a Congressional Medal for his life's work. The end.There's nothing great or amazing about this. It's a musical with several patriotic songs sprinkled throughout. That's nice. But why is that great? As I watch older films and read reviews, there is sometimes a robotic, non-thinking response from people. They are told by someone that a film is great and they just rubber-stamp their approval without thinking critically. The fact that "Yankee Doodle Dandy" has several flag-waving numbers decidedly adds to that feeling. It's almost like you're being unpatriotic if you don't love a film with those elements in it. Well, I'm not going to fall into that trap."Yankee Doodle" is a fine little fictionalized biography about a minor figure in Americana. And James Cagney gave the role his all for sure. But that's about as far as I can go on this one. It's certainly not essential viewing by any stretch. The fact that as of this writing, "Yankee Doodle" has about 12,000 votes and "Casablanca" (which came out just a few months later in 1942, and is a certifiable classic by almost anyone's standards) has over 450,000 votes on this website, speaks volumes. Only one of these should be regarded as essential.6/10. Cagney's song-and-dance routine, while noteworthy, cannot save this from being anything more than a passable two hours. Would I watch again? (Y/N): Not likely.

Copyright 2 January 1943 by Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc. New York opening at the Hollywood Theater: 29 May 1942. U.S. release: May 1942. U.K. release: 19 September 1942. Australian release: 30 September 1943. Sydney release: 24 September 1943 (Tatler Theater). Australian length: 11,563 feet (128½ minutes). U.S. length: 126 minutes.SYNOPSIS: George M. Cohan — from birth to Broadway to "President".NOTES: Initial domestic gross: $4,800,000. In addition to his Academy Award, James Cagney also won the New York Film Critics award for Best Actor (he walked away with the award, receiving 13 votes to 2 on the very first ballot!). Curtiz was nominated for Best Director but dropped out after the second ballet. (The award was eventually won by John Farrow for "Wake Island"). When I interviewed Jimmy Cagney, there were two films he was especially fond of. One, of course, was "Footlight Parade" (1933) which took Cagney out of the noir aura of thieves and gangsters and into the song-and-dance world of musical comedy. His other favorite film of course was "Yankee Doodle Dandy" which Cagney felt did such important work as a wartime morale-booster that any liberties the script took with the real facts of George M. Cohan's birth (he was actually born on July 3, not July 4) and life story were totally unimportant. COMMENT: ?Yankee Doodle Dandy" was obviously filmed on a blank check as a war-time propaganda gesture. Cohan himself died a few months after the film's release. He was ill at the time and took no part in the production which, as might be expected of Hollywood, takes considerable liberties, both major and minor with his career. Although he regarded July 4th as his birthday, Cohan was actually born on July 3rd which makes total nonsense of the entire first ten or fifteen minutes of the film. A nauseating performance by Walter Huston – actively abetting this lie – doesn't help either. Another equally outlandish falsehood occurs in the later stages of the film when Cohan denies having made any movies whereas he made several, including two sound films — The Phantom President (1932) and Gambling (1934).Oddly, and to my great surprise, Cohan himself hated the movie, which is surprising in view of the fact that it so vigorously abets the lie that he was born on July 4. The problem no doubt is that the movie lies on such an enormous raft of other details as well. It is really a fairy tale rather than a genuine "life".Nonetheless, this is rousing, bouncy entertainment, with Cagney flashily hoofing and singing such Cohan standards as "Give My Regards to Broadway", "I Was Born In Virginia" and "Over There".One of the highlights of the film are the two long scenes from the stage presentation of "Yankee Doodle Dandy". Cagney deserved his Best Actor Award. He dominates the entire film. He tells the story in flashback and appears in just about every scene, except of course the early ones with the child actors. Aside from his opening scenes, Huston is effective, also sings his own songs and does his own hoofing, but the other principal players are either colorless or put in the shade by Cagney, particularly Jeanne Cagney and to a lesser extent De Camp, Leslie and Whorf. Irene Manning tends to over-act and does not come across too attractively though she sings in her own voice. As in "Lillian Russell", Eddie Foy does his father again to perfection, but alas has only one unimportant scene with Cagney. What could be omitted is a lot of the routine domestic trivia with which the director seems as bored as we are. Curtiz comes to life during the parades and songs and Siegel has provided a couple of lively montages, including an extremely elaborate one of the neon lights of Old Broadway. Production values are superlative.AVAILABLE on a superb Warner DVD.

James Cagney. What can I say? I've seen several of his gangster films and he has such an intensity and presence. He makes other actors look tired and boring by comparison. He means every line he says, he looks other people right in the eye. There's no compromise with him. He doesn't act, he just expresses. I had no idea until much later that he also sang and danced. The dancing in this movie is incredible. He makes it look so effortless. It's so smooth and timed so perfectly and yet I'm sure a lot of it is very difficult. And his harmonies sound very nice as well.The story is pretty heart-warming. The characters seem to keep out doing each-other in kindness and understanding. Normally, you expect lies and secrets, arguments that eventually get resolved, romances that hang by a thread. Maybe they sugar-coated reality but it's nice to see such warm and caring characters in a movie. There is a lengthy partnership with no contract signed - they just trusted and respected each-other enough to not need one. Cagney gets flowers for his wife to soften the blow of her song being given to another lady to sing. He hesitantly admits it but she isn't surprised. She already knew when he brought her the flowers and she's happy for him.The movie builds slowly and is set-up in a logical order. George M. Cohan (Cagney) is asked to meet with the President but he doesn't know why. He recounts his life story to the President. We see how he was part of a show with his parents and sister (played by Cagney's actual sister). They were known as the 4 Cohans. George was maybe a bit arrogant when he was young. It's funny to see his parents talk more about smacking him than actually smack him. They know he needs discipline but are too nice to want to hurt him. We see him struggle later to find work and see the tricks he uses to get his foot in the door.A lot of the dialogue is snappy and entertaining. George always has something clever to say and he rarely misses a chance to trick people or make fun of them. At one point, he is dressed as an old man and a young woman thinks he is one. So he plays along before casually removing his beard and make-up as she screams in surprise. If people don't recognise him, he talks to them about himself in the 3rd person. He talks himself up but it's an act. He is confident but not arrogant.I tend to do a lot of the same things myself. As if I like to test people to see if they can see through my facade. To see if they can detect the subtle jokes or jabs in what I say. If they can't, they probably won't interest me or understand me. And besides, it's boring to simply parrot the standard phrases of everyday conversation. Intelligence needs a place to play and language (including body language) has plenty of space within it for hide- and-seek.It's moving to see how George M. Cohan's tunes took on a life of their own and become patriotic classics. They are more famous than he is now. He is humbled by the honour. And he never forgets his family. The part where he does an impromptu tap dance as he descends some stairs takes cool to another level. Apparently Cagney improvised it. He also deliberately inhabited Cohan's more rigid style of movement which is not Cagney's usual style. At one point, Cohan tries to join the army but they insist he is more useful on the home front. He improvises a dance for them as they cheer. Their morales have been boosted, but he just enjoys dancing.It's funny because I'm not American but I swear this movie made me feel proud to be American. It has such a positive, uplifting sense of patriotism to it. It doesn't make war sound fun but it makes being a soldier for America sound brave and worthy of respect. It makes you feel hopeful that the good guys will win. This is obviously very appropriate for 1942 when America had recently joined the war. But it's not a propaganda movie, it's a timeless movie about a performer who unexpectedly left a mark on America.

The amazing piece of timing here is when Warner Bros. began work on this biography of entertainer George M. Cohan, WWII had not yet broken out. The attack on Pearl Harbor occurred the day before shooting began. When the film opened people on the home front badly needed some morale boosting, and this film gave it to them. It's just a joyous musical costume piece from start to finish with nice comic touches balanced with some sentimental moments (supposedly Walter Huston's deathbed scene had even taskmaster director Michael Curtiz crying). There's nothing in the way of real conflict or even much heavy in the way of romance between Cohan and his fictitious film wife "Mary", who was modeled after Cohan's actual second wife in some ways. Cohan was actually married twice. Oddly enough, it was Cohan who said he wanted as little romance in the film as possible.The more I learn about Cohan the more I realize that Cagney was perfect to play him - both Irish Americans, both about the same size and build, and George Cohan's style of dancing and singing were about the same as Cagney's. It's hard to believe that Fred Astaire was Cohan's first choice to play himself. Astaire was a great talent, but I don't think he could have conveyed the combination of mischief, optimism and energy that was Cohan the way that Cagney ultimately did. Several people criticize Cagney's dancing here, but that eccentric style was Cohan's, who always considered himself more of an overall entertainer than a dancer in the first place.If you're "date conscious" as I am, there are some matters of plot that might bother you. Cohan was born on July 2 or 3, not July 4. Cohan's mother outlived his father by eleven years and Cohan's father was not "very old" when he died as is said in the film - at least by today's standards. When Cohan's father died in 1917, he was only 69. Cohan's sister did die young - she was only 39, dying in 1916, plus she was not his little sister. Instead Josie was a year older than George. The film has Josie marrying when she would have been close to forty, when she actually married at the beginning of the 20th century and thus was the one to break up the four Cohans, not George. Also, Cohan received his Congressional Medal in 1936, not as WWII began as shown in the film. However the plot device of having George M. recount his life story to FDR, receiving his Congressional medal in the Oval Office, and then dance joyously down the White House stairs and into the streets joining a group of marching soldiers in a chorus of "Over There" was probably a great way to bridge Cohan's patriotic past with what was then an uncertain time that certainly needed a dose of his optimism.The one thing that I did find a little odd - and one thing isn't much in a two plus hour long movie - is that it is hard to spot the actual point in the film where Mary becomes George's wife. There is quite a bit of domesticity shown before the two were married. Mary is cooking for George, staying in his apartment alone waiting for him to come home from the show, and acting very much like they are already married. The only way you know they are not is that George very subtly pops the question to the point that I'm surprised even Mary knew what he was asking! I know this doesn't seem like much in today's world, but considering that they were trying to paint Cohan in the most positive light possible and that the living arrangements might be misunderstood, I am surprised that the censors of that time never raised the issue.At any rate, I highly recommend this one. You'll have a great time, at least in part because you can see that Cagney is having a great time. He always said this film was his favorite, and it shows in his performance.